Kingston, R.I. – Led by a combined 43 points from
Anna DeWolfe and
Kendell Heremaia, the Fordham women's basketball team rode a dominant first half performance to a six-point road win, 64-58, against Rhode Island on Friday evening. With the win, their fourth straight, the Rams improve to 6-2 overall and 3-1 in Atlantic 10 play, while Rhody falls to 2-5 and 2-2, respectively.
"Hey, when you win during the ongoing pandemic, it's two victories: first being able to play the game and then actually winning the game." Head coach
Stephanie Gaitley said, "Winning on the road in-conference is tough. Rhode Island had just won two road conference games. Great scoring by Kene and Anna. Meg hit some clutch jumpshots down the stretch. We need to clean up a few things but overall a great job!"
Fordham scored 40 points in the first half, a new season-high for any half, on a super-efficient 15-of-28 (53.6%) shooting from the field and 9-of-17 (52.9%) from behind the arc, while holding Rhode Island to just 9-of-30 (30.0%), including just 5-of-21 (23.8%) from inside the arc, en route to a 16-point advantage at the break. The Rams used a big run in the second quarter to create separation. Starting a minute into the period with the score 18-14, Fordham finished the half on a 22-10 run, including 13 unanswered points over four minutes, eight coming from DeWolfe over a 90-second span that forced the hosts into an early timeout.
Rhody got on the board first on the day and took two early leads through layups by Johanna Muzet. The second lead change came after
Katie McLoughlin drilled an open three-point look. A DeWolfe make in the paint proved to be the difference in the contest less than three minutes in. The sophomore made another on the next possession following a
Kaitlyn Downey block and then found Heremaia open behind the arc to make it a six-point game, 10-4. Scoring took a backseat as neither team made a field goal for more than three minutes until a DeWolfe triple doubled the score, 14-7, and the visitors finished the frame on a 4-3 run after that.
Following the aforementioned run, DeWolfe led the way with 17 points at the half on 7-of-10 shooting, 3-of-4 from deep, with a pair of assists and a steal, while Heremaia had 11 points, five boards, two dimes, and two steal, and Downey had eight points, six rebounds, four assists, and a block. Rhode Island came out strong in the third quarter behind 15 points from the duo of Emmanuelle Tahane and Marie-Paule Foppossi, taking the period, 17-13. DeWolfe, kept to 2-of-6 shooting over that span, hit all four free-throw attempts, while Heremaia came up with a timely trey, as well, to maintain the team's double-digit lead.
Rhody continued to push, getting within seven, 53-46, through Cartherine Cairns and Tahane, which prompted Fordham to take a timeout. Thanks to three mid-range jumpers by
Megan Jonassen, with one Heremaia layup mixed in, the Rams reestablished a 13-point advantage, 61-48, with 4:29 to play. Fordham was held without a field goal the rest of the way while Rhode Island got within six, 61-55, with just over a minute to play, but free throw makes by DeWolfe and Jonassen saw out the contest despite a late Cairns three making it a four-point game with 23 seconds remaining.
Fordham finished with a 47.0% rate from the field but matched a season-high with 11 made three-pointers coming on 21 attempts, a 52.4% mark that is now ninth-highest all-time for a Rams road contest. For an eighth straight game, Fordham won the rebounding battle, this time, 36-34, the closest margin this year.
DeWolfe finished with 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting, 4-of-6 from downtown, and matched her career-high of three steals. Heremaia provided a season-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting, also hitting 4-of-6 from deep, to go with nine boards, four assists, and two steals, while Downey also grabbed nine rebounds to go with eight points, four dimes, and two swats. Jonassen chipped in nine points, six rebounds, and a steal.
Fordham moves now to Massachusetts for a 1 p.m. meeting on Sunday. ESPN+ and WFUV will have live coverage.
